Evidences of Inclusive CountingBeyn ha arbayim
Numbers 9:3, 5, 11
Numbers 28:4, 8
INCENSE & LAMP DRESSING: Exodus 30:8
“In the evening. Hebrew, between the evenings. From very early days opinions have differed as to the exact time of the sacrifice. The Samaritans and the Karaites construed it as the time between sunset and complete darkness. The Pharisees held to the traditional explanation that it was from the beginning of lengthening shadows to sunset, approximately 3:00 to 5:00 p.m., and with this the Talmud agrees”
Wycliffe Bible Commentary, note at Ex. 12:6
at twilight Hebrew ben ha-'arbayim literally means "between the two settings." Rabbinic sources take this to mean "from noon on." According to Radak, the first "setting" occurs when the sun passes its zenith just after noon and the shadows begin to lengthen, and the second "setting" is the actual sunset. The Jewish Publication Society Torah Commentary, vol. 2, "Exodus" p. 55
And you shall keep it up until the fourteenth day of the same month: and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening” (literally, “between the evenings.”). The Pharisees interpreted this as meaning between midafternoon, when the sun’s heat abated, and sunset, whereas the Sadducees took it to mean between sunset and dark.
Interpreter’s One Volume Commentary, note at Ex. 12:6
The phrase "between the evenings" in Ex. 12:6 (also Ex. 16:12; Lv. 23:5; Nu. 9:3,5,11) has been accorded two variant interpretations, according to variant community practice - either between 3 p.m. and sunset, as the Pharisees maintained and practised (cf. Pesahim 61a; Josephus, BJ 6. 423); or, as the Samaritans and others argued, between sunset and dark. The earlier time, as Edersheim points out, allows more leeway for the slaughtering of the innumerable lambs, and is probably preferred.
New Bible Dictionary - Passover, p. 882
The lamb was to be killed on the eve of the 14th, or rather, as the phrase is, "between the two evenings" (Exod. 12:6, Lev. 23:5; Num. 9:3,5). According to the Samaritans, the Karaite Jews, and many modern interpreters, this means between actual sunset and complete darkness (or, say, between six and seven P.M.); but from the contemporary testimony of Josephus (Jew. Wars, 6.423), and from the Talmudic authorities, there cannot be a doubt that at the time of our Lord, it was regarded as the interval between the sun's commencing to decline and his actual disappearance. This allows a sufficient period for the numerous lambs which had to be killed, and agrees with the traditional account that on the eve of the Passover the daily evening sacrifice was offered an hour, or, if it fell on a Friday, two hours, before the usual time.
The Temple: Its Ministry and Services, updated ed., p. 165,
the entire congregation, without any exception, was to slay it at the same time, viz., "between the two evenings" (Num 9:3, Num 9:5, Num 9:11), or "in the evening at sunset" (Deu 16:6). Different opinions have prevailed among the Jews from a very early date as to the precise time intended. Aben Ezra agrees with the Caraites and Samaritans in taking the first evening to be the time when the sun sinks below the horizon, and the second the time of total darkness; in which case, "between the two evenings" would be from 6 o'clock to 7:20. Kimchi and Rashi, on the other hand, regard the moment of sunset as the boundary between the two evenings, and Hitzig has lately adopted their opinion. According to the rabbinical idea, the time when the sun began to descend, viz., from 3 to 5 o'clock, was the first evening, and sunset the second; so that "between the two evenings" was from 3 to 6 o'clock.
Keil and Delitzsch Commentary
In either case, however, whether it meant the afternoon time up until sunset, or the time from sunset until the stars became visible, the "evening" in the sense and in the regard just discussed evidently belonged to the closing part of the day, and it was only with the sunset or the appearing of the stars that the day began.
Jack Finegan, Handbook of Biblical Chronology, p.15
The term ben ha-arbayim ['between the two evenings'] is used only of the evening at the end of a specified day which also begins the following day--here, then, the evening at the end of the fourteenth day.
Judah ben Segal, The Hebrew Passover, p.130
Joshua 5:10 And the children of Israel
encamped in Gilgal, and kept the passover on
the fourteenth day of the month at even in
the plains of Jericho.
encamped in Gilgal, and kept the passover on
the fourteenth day of the month at even in
the plains of Jericho.
The Hebrew translated "the fourteenth day of the month at even" is:
This is the same Hebrew phrase "be'arba'ah
a'sar yom lachodesh ba'erev“ used in Exodus
12:18
twentieth day of the month at even.

be'arba'ah a'sar yom lachodesh ba'erev
Exodus 12:18 In the first month, on the
fourteenth day of the month at even, ye
shall eat unleavened bread, until the one and
twentieth day of the month at even.
Leviticus 23:27-32 Also on the tenth day of this seventh month there shall be a day of atonement: it shall be an holy convocation unto you; and ye shall afflict your souls, and offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD. And ye shall do no work in that same day: for it is a day of atonement, to make an atonement for you before the LORD your God. For whatsoever soul it be that shall not be afflicted in that same day, he shall be cut off from among his people. And whatsoever soul it be that doeth any work in that same day, the same soul will I destroy from among his people. Ye shall do no manner of work: it shall be a statute for ever throughout your generations in all your dwellings. It shall be unto you a Sabbath of rest, and ye shall afflict your souls: in the ninth day of the month at even, from even unto even, shall ye celebrate your Sabbath.
Again and again we find dilettantes maintaining that in the time of Jesus the Passover meal was eaten in the evening of Nisan 13/14 . . . In fact, it is absolutely indubitable that from ancient times right down to the present the Jewish Passover meal has never been celebrated at any other time than the night of Nisan 14/15"
Joachim Jeremias, The Eucharistic Words of Jesus, p.16, no. 3 and p.38, no.1
"Eustathius, in a note on the seventeenth book of the Odyssey, shows that the Greeks too held that there were two evenings, one which they called the latter evening, at the close of the day; and the other the former evening, which commenced immediately after noon . . ."
McClintock and Strong, vol. VII, 1877, p.735
LXX – Septuagint – 3rd Century BCE
Beyn ha arbayim
Numbers 9:3, 5, 11
Numbers 28:4, 8
INCENSE & LAMP DRESSING: Exodus 30:8
Leviticus 23:5 In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month, between the evening times is the Lord’s passover.
ν τ πρτ μην ν τ τεσσαρεσκαιδεκτ μρ το μηνς ν μσον τν σπερινν πσχα τ κυρ
Exodus 12:6 And it shall be kept by you till the fourteenth of this month, and all the multitude of the congregation of the children of Israel shall kill it toward evening.
κα σται μν διατετηρημνον ως τς τεσσαρεσκαιδεκτης το μηνς τοτου κα σφξουσιν ατ πν τ πλθοςσυναγ
ωγς υν Ισραηλ πρς σπραν
Exodus 16:12 I have heard the murmuring of the children of Israel: speak to them, saying, Towards evening ye shall eat flesh, and in the morning ye shall be satisfied with bread; and ye shall know that I am the Lord your God.
εσακκοα τν γογγυσμν τν υν Ισραηλ λλησον πρς ατος λγων τ πρς σπραν δεσθε κρα κα τ πρω πλησθσεσθε ρτων κα γνσεσθε τι γ κριος θες μν
Numbers 9:3 On the fourteenth day of the first month at even, thou shalt keep it in its season; thou shalt keep it according to its law, and according to its ordinance.
τ τεσσαρεσκαιδεκτ μρ το μηνς το πρτου πρς σπραν ποισεις ατ κατ καιρος κατ τν νμον ατ
οκα κατ τν σγκρισιν ατο ποισεις ατ
Numbers 9:11 In the second month, on the fourteenth day; in the evening they shall offer it, with unleavened bread and bitter herbs shall they eat it.
ν τ μην τ δευτρ ν τ τεσσαρεσκαιδεκτ μρ τ πρς σπραν ποισουσιν ατ π’ ζμων κα πικρδω ν φγονται ατ
Numbers 9:4 And Moses ordered the children of Israel to sacrifice the passover, 5 on the fourteenth day of the first month in the wilderness of Sina, as the Lord appointed Moses, so the children of Israel did.
Numbers 28:4 Thou shalt offer one lamb in the morning, and thou shalt offer the second lamb towards evening.
τν μνν τν να ποισεις τ πρω κα τν μνν τν δετερον ποι σεις τ πρς σπραν
Numbers 28:8 And the second lamb thou shalt offer toward evening; thou shalt offer it according to its meat-offering and according to its drink-offering for a smell of sweet savour to the Lord.
κα τν μνν τν δετερον ποισεις τ πρς σπραν κατ τν θυ σαν ατο κα κατ τν σπονδν ατο ποισετεες σμν εωδα ς κυρ
Exodus 29:39 One lamb thou shalt offer in the morning, and the second lamb thou shalt offer in the evening.
τν μνν τν να ποισεις τ πρω κα τν μνν τν δετερον ποισεις τ δειλινν
Exodus 29:41 And thou shalt offer the second lamb in the evening, after the manner of the morning-offering, and according to the drink-offering of the morning lamb; thou shalt offer it an offering to the Lord for a sweet-smelling savour
κα τν μνν τν δετερον ποισεις τ δειλινν κατ τν θυσαν τν πρωινν κα κατ τν σπονδν ατο ποισεις ες σμν εωδας κρπωμα κυρ
Exodus 30:8 And when Aaron lights the lamps in the evening, he shall burn incense upon it; a constant incense-offering always before the Lord for their generations.
κα ταν ξπτ Ααρων τος λχνους ψ θυμισει π’ ατο θυμαμα νδελεχισμο δι παντς ναντι κυρου εςγενες ατν
2nd Century BCE
Remember the commandment which the Lord commanded thee concerning the Passover, that thou should celebrate it in its season on the fourteenth of the first month, that thou should kill it before it is evening, and that they should eat it by night on the evening of the fifteenth from the time of the setting of the sun. Let the children of Israel come and observe the Passover on the day of its fixed time, on the fourteenth day of the first month, between the evenings, from the third part of the day to the third part of the night, for two portions of the day are given to the light, and a third part to the evening. This is that which the Lord commanded thee that thou should observe it between the evenings. And it is not permissible to slay it during [just] any period of the light, but during the period bordering on the evening, and let them eat it at the time of the evening until the third part of the night, and whatever is left over of all its flesh from the third part of the night and onwards, let them burn it with fire
slay it...during the period (or time) bordering on the evening According to our text the Passover victim might be slain “during the period bordering on the evening.” This is the meaning it attaches to the phrase “between the evenings” ( It corresponds well with Deut xvi 6 which gives .( directions for the sacrificing of the passover “at even at the going down of the sun.” But in ver 10 of our text, a wider definition is given--”from the third part of the day to the third part of the night.” The Pharisees and the Sadducees differed in the interpretation of the phrase “between the evenings.” The former said it meant from the time when the sun inclined towards his setting till his final disappearance ie from 3 to 6 pm, but according to the latter it was the time between actual sunset and darkness ie 6 and 7 pm (Pesachim v 1). The hours (the 9th to the 11th) assigned by Josephus (Bell Jud vi.9.3) agree with the Pharisaic determination. If then we combine the statements in verses 10 and 12 of our text we may infer that the slaughtering of the victim might take place any time during the third part of the day before sunset and this harmonizes on the whole with the rabbinic tradition. The Samaritans and Karaite Jews support the usage of the Sadducees in limiting the act of sacrificing to the hour between sunset and complete darkness.
eat it at the time of the evening until the third part of the night Night was divided into three parts 6 to 10 pm, 10 pm to 2 am, and 2 to 6 am, Hence the time for eating seems to be from 6 to 10 pm. The rabbinic rule fixed midnight as the hour when the eating must be concluded (Berachoth i.I; Pesach x.9)
R.H. Charles, The Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha of the Old Testament
Ezekiel the Tragedian – ca. 90 BCE
And let them be kept until the fourteenth day is bright ; then sacrificing them towards evening (you will eat them) all roast, together with (their) entrails....this festival shall you observe to the Lord, seven days of unleavened bread, and no leaven shall be eaten.
Ezeklios
1st Century CE
XXVII. (145) …the passover, which the Hebrews call pascha, on which the whole people offer sacrifice, beginning at noonday and continuing till evening.
(149) And this universal sacrifice of the whole people is celebrated on the fourteenth day of the month
Philo Judaeus, The Special Laws II
1st Century CE
So these high priests did so upon the arrival of their feast which is called the Passover. On this day they slay their sacrifices from the ninth hour until the eleventh, with a company of not less than ten belonging to every sacrifice -- for it is not lawful for them to have the feast singly by themselves -- and many of us are twenty in a company.
Josephus, War 6.9.3
THE KARAITE HOLIDAYS. Passover
2. Other obligations applied both to them and to future generations; e.g., but on the first day ye shall put away leaven out of your houses (Exod. 12:15), which implies the removal of all leaven before the arrival of the time of the slaughtering of the paschal lamb, meaning before the first part of the first day of the seven days of unleavened bread. This is similar, in its application to future generations, to the ordinance Ye shall kindle no fire throughout your habitations upon the sabbath day (Exod. 35:3). .. . This is confirmed by the verses Thou shalt not offer the blood of my sacrifice with leavened bread (Exod. 23:18), and Thou shalt not offer the blood of my sacrifice with leavened bread (Exod. 34: 25). It follows from this that we must remove all leaven in its entirety before the arrival of the aforementioned time, and we must leave no trace whatsover of it with us, either visible or hidden, in so far as this lies within our power. 197
1. The time of the Passover sacrifice is the first part of the first evening of these aforementioned seven days, i.e., the eve of the fifteenth of Nisan. This time, which is regarded as belonging to the fourteenth of Nisan of the regular calendar, is called “twilight,” as it is written: In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month, at twilight, is the Lord's Passover (Lev. 23:5). Its beginning is the setting of the sun, and its end the disappearance of the last brightness of daylight, and this is the period of dusk which lingers for some time after the sinking of the last portion of the disk of the sun.
2. This time is designated by three names: first, “twilight,” as mentioned above; second, “evening,” as in the phrase And it came to pass in the evening, that the quails came up (Exod. 16:13), following the statement in the preceding verse. At twilight ye shall eat flesh; third, “sunset,” as in the phrase, at sunset, at the time when thou didst come forth out of Egypt (Deut. 16: 6).
3. This time is regarded as part of two days: of the common day, which is the fourteenth of Nisan, as mentioned above; and of the legal day, which is the fifteenth. The common day begins after the sinking of twilight and continues until its next sinking; this is the day as reckoned for the purpose of offering the sacrifice. The legal day begins with sunset and lasts until the next sunset.
Karaite Anthology, ed. Leon Nemoy, Yale Judaica Series, Vol 7, 199- 200
Beginning or End of the 14th?
The Torah commands that the Passover sacrifice be brought "In the First Month on the Fourteenth Day of the Month between the two evenings" (Leviticus 23:5). It is unclear from this verse whether what is being referred to is the period of dusk at the beginning of the 14th or the period of dusk at the end of the 14th. Leviticus 23:6 continues that the Feast of Unleavened Bread is "on the Fifteenth Day of this month". From this verse it appears that the Passover Sacrifice is to be brought at sunset at the end of the 14th, and eaten that same evening, on the night of the 15th. This is confirmed by Deuteronomy 16:4, which commands us regarding the Passover Sacrifice: "and there shall not remain of the meat that you slaughter at evening on the first day until the morning." We see that the entire Paschal lamb must be consumed on the following night it is slaughtered and none of it may be left over until the morning (see also Exodus 12:10, 22). For our purposes what is significant is that the verse describes the Passover sacrifice as being slaughtered "at evening on the first day".
The passage in Deuteronomy 16:1-8 is talking about the Feast of Unleavened Bread and there can be no doubt that "the first day" in v.4 refers to the first day of Unleavened Bread. We have already seen in Leviticus 23:6 that the First Day of Unleavened Bread falls out on the 15th of the First Month. When we look at Leviticus 23:5-6 and Deuteronomy 16:4 together it becomes clear that the Passover Sacrifice is brought at the end of the 14th of the First Month between the two evenings and eaten that same evening on the 15th of the First Month. The period of "between the two evenings" is reckoned as both the end of the 14th (Leviticus 23:5) and the beginning of the 15th (Deuteronomy 16:4)
It is not unusual for the Torah to refer to "such and such a date at evening" and to mean the evening that ends that day. In Leviticus 23:27 we learn that the Day of Atonement occurs on the 10th day of the Seventh Month. A few verses later the Torah makes clear what is meant by the 10th day: "and you shall afflict your souls on the ninth of the month at evening, from evening to evening you shall observe your Sabbath" (Leviticus 23:32). So we see that to fast on the 10th day means to fast from sunset on the 9th until the following sunset. In this verse "the ninth at evening" refers to the onset of evening at the end of the 9th, not the beginning! So the fast of the Day of Atonement on the 10th of the month runs from sunset ending the 9th until sunset ending the 10th (see also Exodus 12:18). Similarly, the 14th between the two evenings in verse 5 of the same chapter refers to the end of the 14th, not the beginning, as confirmed by Deuteronomy 16:4.
"and there shall not remain of the meat that you slaughter at evening on the first day until morning"
https://www.nehemiaswall.com/when-passover-sacrifice-brought
2nd century BCE – last 3rd of the day toward evening
1st Century BCE – sacrifice when day is bright toward evening
1st Century CE – sacrifice in the afternoon of the 14th
Post-1st Century Rabbinic – sacrifice on 14th, eat on 15th
Karaites – sacrifice on 14th, eat on 15th
www.totw.org